Nursing home administrator shares battle with COVID-19, financial impact

Thomas Williams remained at a rehab center in Macon as of Friday.

He told FOX 5 his doctor is calling his recovery remarkable. However, he said the virus didn't just take a toll on his health.

"It kind of destroyed my life," Williams explained.

Williams is one of the nearly 30 staff members at Providence Healthcare in Upson County that the Georgia Department of Community Health said contracted coronavirus.

All but about a dozen residents currently have COVID-19 or have recovered from the virus.

"Somebody at the hospital told them [his family] I was brain dead but I woke up fully functional."

He contracted the virus in April and was in a coma for five weeks.

Williams, who lives in Henry County, said he had only been an interim administrator at the facility for nearly three weeks before getting sick.

He told us COVID-19 is destroying his life because it not only took a toll on his body but also his finances.

"I've always been good at doing what I'm supposed to. My life savings has gone. We're living day-to-day trying to pay my insurance - just to stay in the hospital, pay my house payment," Williams explained as he got emotional.

He’s still waiting to see if he can get workers' compensation or unemployment.

As we've previously reported, the coronavirus has had a devastating effect on long-term care facilities.

Healthcare officials just announced that 97% of nursing home residents in Georgia facilities with 25 or more beds have now been tested for COVID-19.

They told us more than 6,300 residents have contracted the deadly virus.

Nearly 2,800 employees tested positive.

"A lot of administrators now are nurses. I would help with patient care. I would pass medicine because nurses were calling out. So from day one, I was meeting with patients," Williams explained.

He hopes to be home and back on his feet in the next two weeks.

"I gotta get working. Hopefully, somebody will rehire me after all this," he said with optimism.

If you'd want to help Williams, you can click here for more information.